Maya Angelou's work as a poet, author, performer, college professor, and civil rights activist was well-chronicled over the years. She died at her home in North Carolina on Wednesday at the age of 86.
The New York Timesremembered her as a "lyrical witness of the Jim Crow South":
Throughout her writing, Ms. Angelou explored the concepts of personal identity and resilience through the multifaceted lens of race, sex, family, community and the collective past. As a whole, her work offered a cleareyed examination of the ways in which the socially marginalizing forces of racism and sexism played out at the level of the individual.
In a statement from Angelou's family posted on her Facebook page, they described her as a "warrior for equality, tolerance and peace."
Below is a collection of some of Dr. Angelou's best clips, interviews, readings, and performances:
When Nelson Mandela died in 2013, Angelou wrote tribute poem written for him "on behalf of the American people."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqQzjit7b1w
Calypso Heatwave:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2iAfznLG3M
Sesame Street:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfXOHElPV84
Love Liberates:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbecKv2xR14
Do you have memories of Maya Angelou? Favorite poems, readings, sayings? Share them in the comments section below.
